Nemadodzi Lufuno Ethel, Managa Gudani Millicent, Nemukondeni Ndivho
Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa, Johannesburg 1709, South Africa.
Department of Animal Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
Metabolites. 2025 May 21;15(5):344. doi: 10.3390/metabo15050344.
Equally with other indigenous green leafy vegetables, L. has been widely consumed by the VhaVenda tribe found in the Limpopo Province of South Africa since ancient times as a source of food diversification due to its higher-quality nutritional value, sustainability, food security, and medicinal benefits. It is mostly cultivated from seeds in seedling trays and transplanted in the open field, and at the maturity stage, marketing and distribution are mainly conducting through informal markets (i.e., street vendors). However, recently, it can be found in selected supermarkets and commercial grocery stores in South Africa. The leaves and young shoots of are cooked solely and/or as a supplementary vegetable with L. subsp. (Chinese cabbage), L. (spinach), L. (green amaranth), L. (tomato), and/or cooking oil for flavor.
Contrary to other green leafy vegetables, few studies have been conducted on the metabolites released by and the influence of growing conditions on the metabolites thereof.
A H-nuclear magnetic resonance tool was used to identify the untargeted metabolites released by , and spectra were phase-corrected and binned with MestReNova and statistically analyzed with SIMCA 18.0.2.
The findings showed that a total of 12 metabolites were detected between the growing conditions. Eleven similar metabolites, such as glycocholate, chlorogenate (human health benefits), caffeine for its bitter taste, choline, 3-Chlorotyrosine (antidiabetic, blood pressure), etc., and a few vital soluble sugars, were detected in samples grown in the open field and greenhouse-cultivated. Glucose was exclusively detected in the grown under greenhouse conditions.
与其他本土绿叶蔬菜一样，自古代以来，南非林波波省的VhaVenda部落就广泛食用L.，将其作为食物多样化的来源，因为它具有更高的营养价值、可持续性、食品安全和药用价值。它大多在育苗盘中用种子种植，然后移植到露天田地，在成熟阶段，主要通过非正式市场（即街头小贩）进行销售和分销。然而，最近在南非的一些特定超市和商业杂货店也能找到它。L.的叶子和嫩梢单独烹饪和/或与L.亚种（大白菜）、L.（菠菜）、L.（绿苋菜）、L.（番茄）和/或食用油一起作为辅助蔬菜烹饪以增添风味。
与其他绿叶蔬菜不同，关于L.释放的代谢物以及生长条件对其代谢物的影响的研究很少。
使用氢核磁共振工具来鉴定L.释放的非靶向代谢物，光谱进行相位校正并在MestReNova中进行分箱，并使用SIMCA 18.0.2进行统计分析。
研究结果表明，在不同生长条件下共检测到12种代谢物。在露天田地种植和温室种植的L.样本中检测到11种相似的代谢物，如甘胆酸盐、绿原酸盐（对人体健康有益）、因其苦味的咖啡因、胆碱、3 - 氯酪氨酸（抗糖尿病、血压相关）等，以及一些重要的可溶性糖。葡萄糖仅在温室条件下种植的L.中检测到。
